Grounded
by Isabella Auditore
Summary: The 10th Doctor's TARDIS has abandoned him on Earth, forcing him to live amongst humans for a few months. What starts out like a nightmare soon becomes one of the Doctor's greatest adventures as he battles mundane tasks, like grocery shopping, clothes shopping and a part-time job! His neighbours think he's just a madman. How long will it take for one of them to realise the truth?


**My first chapter (which is really a prologue) for my newest fanfiction! You'll either love it or hate it, so why are you reading this? Just jump right in and enjoy, my Lovelies!**

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Chapter One: Colourful Quadrupeds, Chips and Waiting

The Doctor hated waiting. He hated waiting for people, things and events the most. But what he really, really hated was having no choice but to wait.  
He sat staring at the blank wall opposite the window in his rented apartment, eyes dull with boredom. The back of his head and his shoulders were warmed by the fading sun in the west. Gradually, it slid behind the mirrored apartment building just across the street. It was almost identical, except the balcony of one of the flats had an array of multicoloured flowers, similar to a rainbow. They looked a little dull after the lack of water. The heatwave of the summer had left the small neighbourhood without a great deal of water, though it was supposed to rain at about ten PM that night. Ninety-five percent chance, the weather-lady had said. It was raining in Paris, according to the little animated grey cloud hanging over the capital of France. Why couldn't he have been stranded in France? If there was anything worse than waiting without a choice, then it was waiting without a choice whilst being boiled alive in your own skin. The Doctor had removed his brown suit jacket and opened the first few buttons on his light blue shirt to combat the heat, but really, it had almost no effect. His long, tan overcoat hung unused on the hook beside the door that led to the stairs. Those stairs led down to another door, which opened out onto the street.  
Honestly, the buildings wouldn't have counted as apartments in the Doctor's mind. But, as the advert had stated, it was a west-facing _apartment_ with one bedroom and one bathroom. The kitchen was miniscule, but still usable. The living room had one window that looked out at the other building and out at the street. The Doctor was sitting on one of two couches. They were opposite each other, and neither really had a good view of the tiny flatscreen television perched above the electric fireplace.  
Finally, the Doctor grunted and got to his feet. He gave his brown hair a quick ruffle and turned around slightly, so the window was in his peripheral vision. The Time Lord's stomach growled loudly, much to the Doctor's annoyance. He was bored, overheated, and now hungry, too? Unfair. He cursed his stupidity for the millionth time and made his way through the apartment to the kitchen to see what sort of food had been left for him in the cupboards.

His search of the kitchen came up with a can of pineapple slices and an ancient jar of hardboiled sweets that had melted together to form a sugary lump of multicoloured goodness. To the Doctor's dismay, there was no sign of a can-opener nor any other methods of opening the pineapple slices. He wasn't even too sure if he liked pineapple, but his growling stomach told him it didn't matter.  
On the hunt for a can-opener, the Doctor began to search through the drawers in the living room. Instead, he found a stash of takeaway menus, rangeing from Chinese couisine to fish and chips from the local chipper. When it became aparent that there was no sign of a can-opener anywhere else in the apartment, the Doctor resigned himself to having a takeaway. To any normal human, that would've seemed like a treat. To the Doctor, however, it was yet another inconvenience in an already horrid situation. He'd have to leave the apartment, find the chip-shop, collect his food and then somehow find his way home. The Time Lord sighed and found the landline to give the chipper a call.  
To his utter joy, he discovered the place he'd ordered from provided a delivery service and was familiar with the neighbourhood the Doctor was staying in. The friendly young man who'd taken the Doctor's order had told him it'd be about twenty minutes until his food arrived. Luckily, the landlord had left him with a couple of mismatched plates and cups, along with a few pieces of cutlery. The kitchen towel had been all but used up, leaving a few sheets still attached to the cardboard tube. The Doctor groaned as he realised he really would have to go shopping soon. All the same, he collected a plate and the kitchen roll and brought both into the living room.  
He really wasn't used to the idea of a meal alone, so he figured television was the perfect alternative to company. Even when he was in the TARDIS without another being, at least he actually had the TARDIS- his one trustworthy friend that never left him. Never left him until earlier that day, when he'd stepped outside for five seconds. One second, standing outside the TARDIS, admiring the sunrise. Next second, standing alone, waving his Sonic Screwdriver around in the place where the Type Forty had been. The Doctor figured out later that he hadn't parked her properly, and instead of drifting off to the Middle-Ages, she'd drifted forwards in time. After buzzing with his Sonic for a while, the Doctor realised that the TARDIS hadn't changed position. She'd literally just moved forwards. His guess was that it'd be around seven months before she reappeared.  
He'd been so stupid to leave the TARDIS! If he hadn't, he would've been halfway to the Plains of Myos by now, waiting to see the grasslands shine for the first time in over a thousand years. He had always wanted to go, then remembered he lived in a time machine and could visit any time he wanted. Now, however, he was stuck on Earth, living life like a human. Normally, he would've been somewhat thrilled at the idea of spending a while in a different culture, but because he was so familiar with humans, it was like being grounded on Gallifrey all over again, waiting for his trial. He hated the fact that time moved so slowly when he wasn't adventuring or running for his life.  
_Ding-dong_! The doorbell rang and the Doctor jumped, alarmed at the noise. Who could possibly be visiting him? That was when he remembered his fish and chips.

With a full stomach, the Doctor blinked lazily at the television. He was so immensely bored. At least the sun had gone down completely behind the other apartment block, leaving the living room in darkness aside from the artificial glow of the TV screen. He wasn't really paying attention to the colourful cartoon he'd been left with, mainly because the TV remote was broken and he really didn't feel like getting up. There were manual controls on the side of the screen, and his Sonic would've worked perfectly as a substitute remote, but that was in his jacket pocket, and his jacket was tossed onto the other couch earlier.  
Slowly, as boredom began to eat away at him, the Doctor started to take notice of what the colourful quadrupeds were talking about. There were six of them, and they appeared to be walking through a dark forest. The pink one started singing a song and the Doctor smirked a little. The cartoon was kind of cute, if a little odd.  
By the time the credits rolled, the Doctor was secretly wishing there was more, even though his eyes were drooping with tiredness.

As the Doctor made his way to bed, he decided he would go shopping for groceries in the morning, and maybe even find some form of entertainment outside of the TV. Maybe he should follow the example of the characters on his new favourite show and try to make some friends.  
Images of colourful, talking animals filled his mind as the Doctor felt himself fall asleep.

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**Well! Before you ask, you're probably right with your guess on what cartoon the Doctor is watching. If you do know but don't like it, please don't hate me just because I mentioned it a few times! :P  
Hope you enjoyed! Now feel free to review, my Lovelies!**


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